In Lodge v. Kondaur Capital Corp., Case No. 13-10919 (decided May 8, 2014), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided an issue that it never previously addressed: whether a party could recover damages under 11 U.S.C. § 362(k) for emotional distress resulting from another party’s violation of the automatic stay in bankruptcy. In Lodge, the Court held that such damages were recoverable but could not be recovered in the particular circumstances of that case. The plaintiffs owned a home subject to a mortgage. One of the owners filed for bankruptcy, which resulted in an automatic stay against… Read more